For Immediate Release Contact: Nancy O'Shea (312) 665-7103 (For Media Use Only) INSIDE ANCIENT EGYPT Explore a Life-Size Mastaba Tomb Complex in the Field's Permanent Exhibition Mummies.  Mummies.  And more mummies.  Real ones.  Need we say more? Possibly not, since the 23 mummies in The Field Museum's spectacular permanent exhibition, Inside Ancient Egypt, have been drawing throngs of visitors since 1988.  But if you emerge from Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs eager to learn more about this eternally fascinating civilization, you'll find plenty to satisfy your curiosity just across the hall.  Here the life of royalty and common folk unfolds in dazzling detail as you unravel the secrets of mummification…look for bargains in an Egyptian marketplace…examine a 4,000-year-old royal boat…and stand before a 2,500-year-old shrine to the cat goddess, Bastet.  It's all free with general admission to The Field Museum. Explore a life-size mastaba tomb complex Your tour of ancient Egypt begins in the mastaba tomb of Unis-Ankh, son of the Old Kingdom pharaoh Unis.  Mastabas were low, rectangular tombs—forerunners and alternatives to the pharaohs' pyramids.  You'll enter the upper levels of the tomb and descend through the 35-foot burial shaft to the tomb chambers below.  The 3-level complex is built around two original chambers from the tomb, excavated in Saqqara, Egypt two centuries ago.  The structure also contains the 7-ton "false door" that marked the meeting place of the living and the dead.  The mastaba is filled with authentic sculptures and other treasures from the period, hands-on replicas, and wall paintings and reliefs recreated by contemporary masters to precisely mirror the work of the ancient artisans. Peer into the afterlife The elaborate tombs of ancient Egypt reflect the culture's intense interest in death and the afterlife.  Perhaps the most fascinating part of the exhibition explores that interest in colorful and realistic detail. Leaving the mastaba through a roughly hewn tomb-robbers' tunnel, you'll emerge into a room of burial scenes, complete with mummies and the many accoutrements deemed necessary for a successful life in the Afterworld.  Each scene represents a different moment in Egyptian history, so you can examine how burial practices, mummies, and coffin styles evolved over time.  Dioramas provide a dramatic look at the elaborate process of mummification and the journey to the underworld, and offer insights into the Egyptians' religious practices and beliefs.  Continue>>